nooby tube(less)y

Sorry if this is covered elsewhere. Do we have a FAQ bit?
Anyhoo, bored of fixing punctures ( I live in a forest of gorse) I'd like to go tubeless. I've got a hope/flow front wheel which is tubeless ready and the original fitted Alex rim on the rear (don't know what type of Alex rim). So, I think I just need a valve and goo for the front? And rim tape, valve and goo for rear? Do I need tubeless tyres too? Or can I do something just using tubeless tyres? Or what?
Please be gentle with me if this is too simple for words, or if anything I've said doesn't make sense. We're all here for fun right?!

What tyres do you currently run? Some work better than others is the short answer... The long answer is... Well, with 10 years of experience I still don't know all the ins and outs, but I do have plenty of experience of which brands and tyres work well for me, and that in general, it is better just to go for proper tubeless tyres.

One thing is for sure, if you suffer a lot of thorn punctures currently, you'll not look back once you convert to tubeless! Next time you change your tyres, and pull dozens of thorns all sealed into the tyre by latex solution out of them, you'll have an immensely smug grin plastered across your face!

Thanks mboy. Been using conti x-king and mountain king, but only because one or other came on bike when I bought it. They've worked away fine but I'm open minded. Think I just need sealant and valve for my flow rim, going to get full kit for Alex rim. Was planning to change tyres maybe. Riding on hard pack, soft peat, tree roots, and lots of gorse!

There's some useful stuff there, squizz through for my post/link on the ghetto inflator, you'll probably need it for the rear. Go for a rubber rim strip (I use Joe's No Flats, cheap from CRC) on the rear rather than yellow tape if you're unsure of your tyres sealing ability. You can probably do this with your existing tyres if they're folding and in good condition, wire probably won't be rubbery enough at the bead to seal. Additionally if they're full of holes from the punctures you've had it's not the best start. Tubeless ready vs full on UST is discussed in the link too. Ready appears to be the winner.

Cheers Herman
Ordered some rim tape for the rear. Sounds like I'll need new shoes too as current tyres are wired. Another trip to the online shops, sigh.
Not going to ask which tyres are best as that might lead to people sharing their opinions.
Does this count as going-tubeless-12? !
Seriously, how do I search for existing threads. Looked for this topic, found nowt, and then get shown acres of content. Now, I can only type with one finger so possibly my IT skills are at fault...
Looking forward to building bottle compressor/bomb. Might try track pump first tho

vix I reckon it depends on price and purpose. DD is more robust, I think the point behind sidewall only is that it is more supple/grippy so snakeskin has it's place too.

As for width that's very subjective. IIRC Spesh tyres come up large with Schwalbe being fairly accurate (don't quote me on this!). Narrow suits mud due to clearance and pressure to find grip in the soup, mud clearance and lighter weight. Larger volume can be treated more roughly but rim width becomes a concern for 2.3+ as the profile can be too round if the rim is on the narrow side:

A low pressure big tyre offers lots of grip on different things and a bit more cush.

For a point of reference I use low volume 2.0 Mud XR at the moment and was on 2.25 ADvantages in the fairer months (large for their size, taller than some 2.5 WTB I have!). I don't fancy much in the way of jumps and drops on my weeny little Muds but they are great for getting through the slop. I'll probably be after some folding ADvantages/Nics in summer in a large volume 2.2

Anyway, enough about me. If you ride somewhere where your tyres get slashed (slatey/rocky etc) go for DD. If you don't need that much protection go snake. I prefer 2.25 to 2.1 personally, you could do 2.25 front and 2.1 rear to make the most of the larger front patch and save a smidge of weight in the back?

Sometimes googling the topic with singletrackworld in the terms is more effective than the search box. As for "what tyres" threads people roll their eyes a bit but a lot of folk chip in. Explain what you've got, where you ride, budget and the tubelessing of them. It can help to have a starting point. It's (hopefully) the only bit of your bike touching the ground so it's worth getting right!

Thanks for the input Herman Shake, I am not very skilled yet ( on here or riding ) I dont worry about the weight much I have enough of my own I do go riding around the Peaks, sherwood pines etc so I may go for DD